Venetian Poker Room Concludes $500,000 Freeroll

The results are in, and the Venetian in Las Vegas has concluded its second major poker promotion in three months, proving once again it really is the “New Face of Poker.”

The Last Chance In poker tournament held on July 24th, was the first event of its kind hosted by the relatively new Las Vegas Strip poker room. Hundreds of players gathered during the peak of the World Series of Poker to compete in a super satellite awarding seats into the $10,000 WSOP championship.

Jennifer Tilly, Phil “UnaBomber” Laak, Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari, actress Shannon Elizabeth, Full Tilt’s Clonie Gowen, 2006 WSOP Pot Limit Omaha bracelet winner Lee Watkinson, and many other poker celebrities were sighted at the event. And though poker players might enjoy rubbing elbows with celebrities, the Venetian had no problem drawing over 200 hopeful participants on their own.

After nearly seven hours of play, the following five players qualified for a $10,000 seat into this years WSOP Championship event, which commenced on July 28th.


Amir Mohamed, Jason Eaks, Norman Taitano, Michael Atkinson, Mikkel Madsen


Another popular Venetian poker room promotion wrapped up this week with the highly anticipated $500,000 Freeroll Poker Tournament. Poker players only needed to use their Venetian Club Cards to “clock in and cash out” over the past few months, accumulating 50 hours of rated play per month, or a total of 200 rated hours by July 31, to qualify for a total prizepool of over a half million in cold hard cash.

The $500,000 Freeroll Poker Tournament was held August 11 – 13 and boasted nearly 400 players. On Day 1, half of the field played down to 100 players, and on Day 2 they did the same. The top 200 players were in the money and went on to compete for the top prize of $150,000.

JP Withrow had a monster chip lead to take home first place. Below are the final table finishers.

1. JP Withrow
2. Ken Selby
3. Sam Chung
4. Michael Chaplan
5. Pablo Carabello
6. Steven Pohl
7. Robert Delcher
8. Robert Moyers
9. Justin Hall
10. David Zanella

During the month of August, the Venetian poker room is continuing its promotions with the $25,000 Bad Beat Jackpot, which has yet to be awarded.

Double player points will continue throughout the month of August, and in September the Venetian will be offering its poker players “Triple Player points.”

At nearly 11,000 square feet, The Venetian Poker Room is the largest in square-footage on the Strip. This luxurious poker room is exquisitely decorated with rich leathers, cherry wood and custom cabinetry and offers state-of-the-art technology in a smoke-free environment.

courtesy of Lisa Wheeler

News Added: 15 August, 2006

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